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Camera head to head: Lumia 950 XL vs Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro

In advance of part 2 of my Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro review, covering its imaging, here's a taster, with a quick head to head against the champion Lumia 950 XL. You can guess the outcome, of course, but the much newer device acquits itself well enough, given the lack of imaging smarts - the IDOL 4 Pro's main focus is on media, and I'll come to that in a future review part.

The IDOL 4 Pro has a Sony IMX230 sensor and Sony Exmor RS lens, which sounds more top end than it actually is - Sony smartphone imaging has been underperforming a lot in the last five years and it takes massive image processing expertise to bring out the best from its sensors. Something which Sony itself hasn't managed and Alcatel/Microsoft here don't make much of an effort in. Compare that with a decade of Nokia and ZEISS expertise that culminated in the Lumia 950 XL's camera unit.

However, it's still well worth doing a comparison, since the 950 XL is now almost two years old and no longer for sale, while the IDOL 4 Pro is both new and available. It has plenty of plus points over the Lumia, but is its imaging significantly worse?

Both units offer a 16MP 16:9 mode - I do like to match up resolutions as best possible so that I can use Rafe's fancy interactive comparator, below.

All photos were taken on full 'auto' on both phones, unless stated otherwise.

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say. So let’s start snapping and pit the results against each other, using our Famed Interactive Comparator (FIC). All 1:1 crops are at 900x500 for comparison, but see the links for full versions.

Note that the interactive comparator below uses javascript and does need to load each pair of images. Please be patient while this page loads, if you see a pair of images above each other than you've either not waited long enough or your browser isn't capable enough! You ideally need a powerful, large-screened tablet or a proper laptop or desktop. This comparator may not work in some browsers. Sorry about that. On Windows 10 Mobile, use the 'AAWP Universal' UWP app, which handles the comparator very competently (see the tips in the app's help screens).

Test 1: Sunny scene

Although I have plenty of solo sunny samples from the IDOL 4 Pro (of which more in the next review part), the sun was hidden for the whole of this comparison, sadly. But, as ever, poorer light makes for more of a challenge for each smartphone camera. Here's a lake shot at full 16MP resolution on both phones. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

There's not a lot to choose between the two photos - just the trademark judicious sharpening by the Lumia 950 XL, aided by there actually being more detail, thanks to the ZEISS optics, I suspect. Although the sun wasn't out, there was still plenty of light and a 1/730s exposure by the IDOL 4 Pro eliminated any worries over hand shake and lack of OIS.

Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro: 9 pts

Test 2: Awkward lighting

This was taken crouched down, shooting sculpted wooden detail against a bright sky and trees. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

That sharpening in the Lumia 950's image processing certainly makes textured surfaces look tasty, even if it's usually right on the edge of being overblown. Still, there's a slight washed-out, processed look to the IDOL 4 Pro's shot and it loses a couple of points as a result.

Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro: 8 pts

Test 3: Sign detail

Here's a detailed photo of a large (1.5m?) sign, shot in the shade - an ultimate test of optics? Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

I have to confess, the differences here are stunning - this is what OIS, decent optics (ZEISS), large aperture (f/1.9 versus f/2.2) and better image processing get you, just look at the 950 camera's clarity. The IDOL 4 Pro's shot isn't bad at all, but its optics and image processing can't cope with the detail on the dragonfly's wings at all.

Lumia 950 XL: 10 pts; Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro: 8 pts

Test 4: Natural world

Representing nature is always a challenge for phone image processing. Here's a gloomy corner of a stream, much gloomier to my eye than the Lumia makes it look. This was deliberately taken as a low light example - the IDOL 4 Pro had to drop down to a 1/50s exposure, which is long enough to start showing hand shake. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950:

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

As I've seen in the past, the Lumia 950 image sharpening can over-do things when it comes to leaves and vegetation - and here I think is a good example - I prefer the more natural, less contrasty details in the IDOL 4 Pro's photo. Even the leaves are the right colour in the latter, plus the water looks more natural.

Lumia 950 XL: 7 pts; Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro: 9 pts

Test 5: Night time

Dead of night, with just some weedy LED street lamps. Here is the whole scene, as presented by the Lumia 950, artificially brighter by a factor of 10 than real life(!):

In case you want to grab the original images to do your own analysis, here they are, from the Lumia 950 XL and Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro, click the links to download. And to look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central 1:1 crops, just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

In the IDOL 4 Pro's defense, its photo was a lot closer to reality and my eyes could only see marginally more than it could. It maxes out here at a 1/14s exposure and, with an aperture of f2.2 it's just not enough to gather enough photons of light for a photo with any meaningful detail. The Lumia 950 XL, meanwhile, went for a full 1/4s exposure, plus the much larger aperture and larger sensor, kept crisp by the OIS. The results are plain and you have to give good marks to the Lumia, even if it's more an arty photographic construct than a snapshot of real world light conditions (for example, the sky was jet black to my eyes).

Lumia 950 XL: 9 pts; Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro: 5 pts

Test 6: Party time/LED flash

Party time, with my famed moving/laughing human mock-up, simulating what would happen snapping with flash at a real evening event

To look at the images in more detail, here are fairly central crops, though not down to 1:1 since there's obviously no point. Just wait to make sure the page has fully loaded and then use your mouse or trackpad pointer to compare the images:

Here again the larger aperture wins out, along with the OIS keeping at least the phone camera steady, and along with the triple LED flash. I contend that the Lumia 950 XL's shot would be just about usable on social media, whereas the IDOl 4 Pro's one wouldn't.

Lumia 950 XL: 7 pts; Alcatel IDOL 4 Pro: 5 pts

Verdict

As usual, adding up the points gives us a feel for how the two phone cameras did:

Lumia 950: 53/60pts

IDOL 4 Pro: 44/60pts

I'm not trying to beat up the new IDOL 4 Pro here - it has taken some splendid photos for me (of which more in a few days), and it's not really trying to taken on the Lumia 950 XL at the imaging game. If anything, you could argue that it's only one step behind Microsoft/Nokia's finest and that this is perfectly good enough for most people, especially given the faster chipset, fingerprint biometrics, great speakers, etc.

Anyway, comments welcome. Nothing in the phone world has yet beaten the Lumia 950 XL for sheer image quality and I didn't expect the IDOL 4 Pro to come close - the results above are about what I'd have expected. Your comments?